Power-operated wrench



April 17, 1928. 1,666,600

J. JORDEN POWER OPERATED WRENCH Filed March 13. 1926 30 tion,

50 Referring more specifically to the congra'l with a toothed drive gear 24, rotatable Patented Apr. 17, 192 8. v x UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

Application filed March 13, 1926. Serial No. 84,613., i

The present invention relates to inventions tening upon the stand 11. Rotatably mountin a power operated wrench and has for its ed in an elevated position in the center of prime object to provide a power operated the casing 13 is a main drive shaft 15, coinwrench of a comparatively simple and duraposed of a pair of aligned relatively movbl de ign. v able, section's supported in bearings 16 A further object of-the invention is the formed in the ends of the casing; The rear rovision of a power operated wrench of a section of the shaft 15' projects substanconveniently operable character whereby lnetially from the casing and carries on its outer chanical elements of various types may be end a pulley wheel 17 rigidly secured to the 05 readily engaged for. connection or disconshaft. This pulley wheel is adapted to ennection. gage a drive belt 18 trained over a comple- A still further object of the invention is mentary pulley driven by an electric motor the provision of a power operated mechaor other source of power. In order to prenism which may be readily utilized for drill- .vent undue vibration of the drive shaft pro- 7 ing and similar purposes. jection, a bracket 19 is secured to the'stand Still another object of the invention is the 11 and provided at its upper end with a bear-. provision of a power operated mechanism ing sleeve 20, arranged adjacent the casing of the above characterwhich may'be very 13 to provide. an auxiliary bearing member.

. easily and accurately-controlled. 1 Carried bythe. interior portion of the 75 20 Other objects and advantages of the inshaftl5, upon the adjacent ,ends of its lcomvention will become apparent,as,tl1edescrip plementary sections, is a clutch mechanism I tion progresses. Y embodying a circular recessed member 20 In the accompanying drawing forming a fixed to one section of the shaft and engagepart of this specification and in which like able with a complementary member 21 mov- 80 25 reference characters are employed to dcsigable on the adjacent shaft section. .The nate corresponding parts throughout the movable member of the clutch is slidably same: I I actuated on the shaft by means of a ful- Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the crumed clutch' lever 22 pivotally connected assembled structure embodying my invenat its intermediate portion 'with an ear 85 l, formed on the casing top, and arranged to Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal secproject through a slot therein. The upper tional view through the transmission mechaend of this lever is formed to provide a connism' of the invention, 7 venient handle, while the lower end isfpro- Figure 3 is a top plan view of the transvided with a forked extension carrying pins mission mechanism, and adapted to engage an annular groove: formed Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view of in' the movable clutch member for convenient the wrench connecting structure and con-- operation thereof. vFrom this construction trol mechanism. I it is apparent that the main. shaft 15 is driv- In the dra ing, wherein for the purpose on by ean f th b lt 18 f it bl of illustration is shown the preferred emsource of power. Operation .of the clutchbodiment of my invention, the numer l 1 mechanism controls the rotary movement of generally indicates in its entirety the transthe rear drive section and, ulti nately, mission mechanism of my improved apparathe operation of the tool. I tus, preferably supported in n elevated P I Slidably mounted on the forward section 10. -P a f 11d 11. Operatively connected of the drive shaft 15 is a gear sleeve 23 enwith the transmission mechanism 10 and exgageablewith suitable keys formed on the tending substantially therefrom is a flexible shaft and provided with an annular groove drive member 12 connecting at its outer free at its intermediate portion. :The rear end end with a suitable operating tool. of this sleeve-is secured to or formed inte lfl struction embodying my invention, it will be with-the shaft. This mechanism is also slidreadily noted from the drawing, :that the ably actuated on the drive shaft by a lever transmission'me'chanism 10 is enclosed in a 25, similar in CODSiDIIICtIOD tO the clutch oprectangular shaped casing 13 preferably of crating lever, and 'pivotally mounted in a ll. durable metallic construction having a similar manner.-

. flanged bottom plate 14 apertured for fas- Rotatably mounted in the-casingin a position below the drive shaft 15 is an auxiL iary shaft 26, having its forward end journaled in a tubular extension 27 formed on the front of the casing and its rear extrem 5 ity journaled in a bearingbracket 28 secured to tli'e bottom of the casing and projecting vertically therein. This auxiliaryshaft carries acomplementary large spur gear 29 adjacent its rear end, directly en- 1 gageable with the gear 24 mounted on the upper shaft, and a smaller spur gear 30 arranged forwardly of the larger gear. This smaller spur gear 30 is continuously in mesh with an idler gear 31 provided with a for- 1 wardly projecting shaft 32 rotatably supported in an inwardly directed bearing sleeve 33. This gear construction is adapted to permit clock-wiseor counter-clock-wise rotary movement of the auxiliary shaft 26 so as to permit right and left rotary opera- *of a series of links connected by universal" joints. The free end of this shaft connects with a rodsection 35 having its outer projecting end formed to provide a non-circular 80 projection 36, preferably being square or hexagonal in form. The flexible operating shaft 34 is covered by a flexible tube 37,-

firmly secured at its ends with retaining collars 38 to prevent displacement.

35 The non-circular projection of the bar 35 is remova-blyv connected with a coupling sleeve 39, preferably having a knurled outer surface for convenient handling. This coupling sleeve is formed with a non-circular 40' bore for engagement with a socketwrench 40, the shank of this wrench being provided with a non-circular extension engageable with the bpre of the coupling sleeve for .de-

'tachable connection of the wrench.

F The top of the,ca'sing is enclosed by a removable'top plate 41 apertured for inser' tion of suitable machine screws and providedupon its longitudinal center with slots 42 for projection of the operating levers 22 and 25-. Formed integral with and extending forwardly from. the front edge of the cover '41is-an angular bracket 43 apertured adjacent its upper end. the purpose of which will be presently described. Rigidly secured upon the cover 41 and arranged in longitudinal aligned positionsarea .pair of brackets 44 provided with openings adjacent their upper ends and adapted to slidably support a control bar 45. The intermediate portion of this bar is expanded to form a longitudinal slot 46, while the rear end is bifurcated as at 47 for pivotal connection with the operating lever 22.

Formed integral w Y flexible covering tube 37 is an'auxiliary tube a convenient operation.

ith or secured to the 8 or casing 37 of decreased diameter adapted to form a housing for a flexible operating rod 48. One end of the flexible rod 48 is durably connected with the forward extremity of the control bar 45 while the opposite end thereof projects through the outer end of the'casing 37 Fixed to the tube 37 ad-' jacent its outer free end is a sleeve 49 having a slot 50 formed on one'side thereof. A pair of parallel ears 51 are formed adjacent the outer end of the sleeve 49 and are apertured for pivotally supporting an operating lever 52. This lever is provided with an angular extension 53 which is pivotally connected with the flexible rod 48. From thisv con-- struction, it is apparent thatithe rear end of the control bar 45 is pivotally connected with the control lever 22 while the forward control lever 25 projects through the slot 46 therein. Operative movement of the control bar 45, through the instrumentality of the flexible rod 48, will swing the clutch lever for operative movement of the clutch mechanism .without interfering with the position of the reverse gear lever 25. The control 90 .bar 45 is normally urged to-its rearward pdsition for idisconnection of the clutch by means of a coiled tensionspring 54, one end of which is secured to the lever 2'2 whi-le..the

Opposite .end is connected to an angular 05 bracket 55. This bracket is bolted or otherwise fastened to the rear edge of the casing cover' 41 and thereby maintains the spring 54 in position. Thus, it is obvious, that the tension spring 54 normally tends to swing the lever 22 for disconnection of the clutch and consequently this connection of the transmission mechanism. To produce op-. erative movement of the transmission mechanism and-wrench, it is merely necessary that the operator press the lever 52 inwardly toward the sleeve structure 49 thereby drawing forwardly the flexible rod 48 and con-- trol bar, for swinging the clutch lever and maintaining the clutch'in operative relation. 11

It is readily apparent,from the foregoing descriptionandthe drawing, that a simple and compact power wrench has been devised. This wrench is primarily intended for rapid removal'or connection of-bolts and nuts in the construction and repair of motor vehicle's and various types of machine structures. 'The nature of the construction will readily' permit application of the wrench upon machine elements in various positions and the simple control -mechanism insures Attention is invited to the fact that the provision of the coupling sleeve 39 and detachableconnection of the e Wrench 40 will permit the attachment of drilling tools or other implements of this nature; to effect operations of a varied char- "acter.

It is to be understood that the. form of my invention herewith shown and described claim:

is to betaken as the preferred example of the same, and that various changes as to-the size, shape and arrangement'of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims. i

Having thus described -1. In-apower wrench of the character descr1bed,-a power transmission mechanism, a

' clutch structure associated with said mechanism for starting and stopping the same, a flexible power cable operated by said mechanism, apivotally mounted lever controlling said clutch structure, a reciprocable bar mounted adjacent said clutch lever having one end pivotally' connected thereto, a flexible control cable connected'to the other end of said bar and extending along said'flexible power cable to a point adjacent the free end of the same, and means at the free end of said flexible power cable for pulling the control cable to throw the clutch lever into clutch engaging position.

2. In a power wrench of the character described, a power transmission mechanism, a

clutch structure associated with said mechanism for starting and stopping the same, a flexible power cable operated by said mech: anism, a pivotally mounted lever controlling said clutch structure. a reciprocable bar mounted adjacent said clutch'lever having one end pivotally connected thereto, a flexible control cable connected to the other end of said bar and extending along. said flexible power cable to a point adjacent the free end of the same, means at the free end of said flexible power cable for pulling the control cable to throw the clutch lever into clutch engaging position, and'resilient means attached to said clutch control lever and maintained under tension during the. engagement of said clutch -for causing disen gagement of said clutch upon the release of said control cable.

my invention, I

3. power wrench structure of the character described including a transmission housing, a transmission mechanism within said housing, a flexiblepower cable connected with said mechanism, clutch control means for said mechanism and means, for

transmitting power to the flexible cable, a

control means for said. clutch mechanism,

comprising a pivoted lever, a' pair of supporting elements upon said casing, a longitudinally shiftable bar carried by said supporting element and having one end pivotally attached to said clutch control lever, a flexible control cable attached to theother end of said bar, means carried upon said flexible power cable adjacent the free end of the same, for pulling upon said control cable to shift the bar, and a spring member having one end fixed and the other end connected to said clutch control lever and nor mally acting to pull the lever to clutch disengagedposition.

4. Ina power wrench of the character described, including a flexible power cable designed to receive a chuck upon the free end'thereof, a control'means for a recipro-j' cable clutch actuating lever comprising a sleeve .member .secured about said flexible cable adjacent the free end thereof and having a portion of the wall thereof cut away JOHN J'YORDEN. 

